System and method for internet protocol television product placement data

ABSTRACT

A system and method are disclosed for sending advertising data to an end user device. The system includes but is not limited to a processor in data communication with a computer readable medium; and a computer program embedded in the computer readable medium, the computer program including but not limited to instructions to send first password data to a first group of end user devices that have exchanged a first advertising key data in a first advertising category; and instructions to send first advertising data encoded using the first password to the first group of end user devices.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/182,637 and takes priority from U.S. Pat. No. 8,380,564filed on Jul. 30, 2008 by Huffman et al., entitled A System And MethodFor Internet Protocol Television Product Placement Data, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to the field of targeted advertising.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Targeted advertisements have historically been mailed to large targetedgeographic areas such as a particular city, so that regional advertisersreach only persons who are deemed by the advertiser as most likely to beresponsive to their advertisements.

Advertisements are a component in digital video services, including liveor pre-recorded broadcast television (TV), special or pay-per-viewprogramming, video on demand (VOD), and other content choices availableto subscribers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a system for deliveringadvertising data;

FIG. 2 depicts a flow chart of functions performed in a particularillustrative embodiment for delivering advertising data;

FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of functions performed in another particularillustrative embodiment for delivering advertising data;

FIG. 4 depicts a data structure embedded in a computer readable mediumthat is used by a processor and method for delivering advertising datain a particular illustrative embodiment; and

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a machine for performingfunctions disclosed in an illustrative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an illustrative embodiment, an end user obtains advertising data andother information data at an end user device related to a product thatappears in an internet protocol television (IPTV) video data stream. Forexample, an end user sees a product on television, such as a bicycle ina bicycle race. The end user, via a remote control and an end userdevice clicks on or selects a product such as the bicycle or a bicyclehelmet that appears in a video presentation of a bicycle race that ispresented in a video data presented on a display at an end user device.Upon selection of the product, the IPTV system identifies the productand sends advertising data which includes but is not limited to price,availability and technical specifications for the product.

An enhanced video icon appears on the end user device display when theenhanced advertising feature described above is available on the enduser display. In a particular embodiment, a dialogue menu box opens onthe end user display device showing a list of products for sale that aredisplayed in the accompanying program the customer is watching with aprice and link to additional information and a buy button or additionalinformation related to program i.e. recipes, parts lists, tools,required, sponsor links. The list of products offered for sale or forwhich additional informational data are offered varies depending on anend user profile for the end user currently associated with the end userdevice. If the viewer elects to purchase the listed item, the purchaseprice is billed to their IPTV account and the product is processed anddelivered to their door by the preferred product supply and fulfillmentresources.

In another embodiment, the IPTV system monitors the video data streamfor occurrences of product data that can be associated with advertisingdata in an advertising data pool before sending it to the end userdevice. For example, a bicycle company may want to advertise theirproducts when one of their products appears on television, thus,advertising data keys representing a bicycle image and audible wordssuch as bicycle and words relating to a bicycle are placed in a systemkey data pool. When a bicycle image or the word bicycle or other wordsrelated to bicycle (for example, “Lance Armstrong”, “Tour de France”,etc.) appear in the audio data for the video data stream, theadvertising key data for the bicycle are placed in the system key datapool. The advertising data keys are indices to advertising data in theadvertising data pool which includes but is not limited to price data,availability data and source data.

In a particular embodiment, when an end user at an end user deviceclicks on the bicycle image data in the video data stream, the bicycleimage data selection is sent to the IPTV system. The IPTV system takes aportion of the video data surrounding the data selected by the end userdevice and analyzes the data to determine the product selected by theend user. The IPTV system correlates the video data selected by the enduser device with the advertising key data in system key data pool todetermine which product has been selected. When a particular product isidentified and associated with particular advertising key data,advertising data in the advertising data pool associated with theadvertising key data are encoded into the video data stream and sent tothe end user device and presented along with the bicycle data as itappears in the displayed video data stream.

In another embodiment, key data exchanges between end user devices aremonitored for the presence of advertising key data or other audio andimage data relating to the advertising key data. Thus, when a first enduser device exchanges data with the IPTV system or another end userdevice, that is, sends or receives a message containing data such as animage of a bicycle or an audio expression of the word bicycle or arelated word, the data exchanged is placed in an end user key data pool.The data in the end user key data pool are correlated with theadvertising data pool data to determine the occurrence of key dataexchanged, that is, sent and received by each end user device in theIPTV system. The IPTV system forms communities of end user devices thatdiscuss, that is, exchange data related to a particular advertising datakey, for example, “bicycles”, the data key discussed above. All endusers that exchange particular key data (for example, key data for thebicycle) with another end user device or with the IPTV system are placedin a key data community together. This particular key data community canbe referred to as the “bicycle” key data community. All end user devicesthat exchange particular key data such as the “bicycle” key data withthe first end user are placed in a “bicycle” key data discussioncommunity for the first end user.

When the first end user selects the bicycle data for advertising data tobe displayed during the bicycle race video presentation, a firstpassword and icon activation data are sent to all end user devices inthe “bicycle” key data community and second password data and the iconactivation data are sent to all end user devices that appear both in the“bicycle” key data community and the “bicycle” key data discussioncommunity for the first end user. The passwords are used to decodeadvertising data encoded into the video data sent to the end user deviceby the IPTV system in response to the end user selection of the bicycleimage in the video data stream. Thus, separate data can be encoded intothe video data stream for the “bicycle” key data community and the“bicycle” key data discussion community for the first end user. Thus,the end user devices in the “bicycle” key data community use the firstpassword data to decode a first advertising data encoded into the videodata stream and the “bicycle” key data discussion community for thefirst end user use the second password to decode a second advertisingdata encoded into the video data stream.

In another particular embodiment, a computer readable medium isdisclosed containing a computer program useful in performing a methodfor sending advertising data to an end user device, the computer programcomprising instructions to monitor video data for advertising key data;instructions to monitor end user data exchanged between end user devicesfor the advertising key data; instructions to receive data from an enduser device indicating a product selected from a selected data segmentin the video data; and instructions to send advertising data relating tokey data in the selected data segment to the end user device. In anotherembodiment of the medium, the computer program further includes but isnot limited to instructions to form a key data community of end userdevices based on the data exchanged between end user devices whereineach end user device in the key data community of end user devices hasexchanged data related to the key data with at least one other end userdevice in the key data community of end users; and instructions to sendthe advertising data relating to the key data to the key data communityof end user devices.

In another embodiment of the medium, the computer program furtherincludes but is not limited to instructions to form a discussioncommunity of end users devices based on the data exchanged between enduser devices wherein the discussion community of end users includes theend user device and wherein each end user device in the discussioncommunity of end user devices has exchanged data related to the key datawith the end user device; and instructions to send the advertising datarelating to the key data to the end user devices in the discussioncommunity of end user devices. In another embodiment of the medium, theadvertising data is encoded in the video data, the computer programfurther comprising instructions to send first password data to end userdevices in the key data community of end users to decode the advertisingdata from the video data.

In another embodiment of the medium, the advertising data is encoded inthe video data, the advertising data is encoded in the video data, thecomputer program further comprising instructions to send second passworddata to end user devices in the discussion community of end user deviceto decode the advertising data from the video data. In anotherembodiment of the medium, the computer program further includes but isnot limited to instructions to send activation data to end user devicesindicating advertising data for a product in the video data are encodedin the video data. In another embodiment of the medium, the instructionsto monitor further include but are not limited to instructions toperform video and audio content recognition on the video data and enduser data to identify image data and audio data related to theadvertising key data.

In another illustrative embodiment, a system is disclosed for sendingadvertising data to an end user device, the system including but notlimited to a processor in data communication with a computer readablemedium; and a computer program embedded in the computer readable medium,the computer program comprising instructions to monitor video data foradvertising key data, instructions to monitor end user data exchangedbetween end user devices for the advertising key data, instructions toreceive data from an end user device indicating a product selected froma selected data segment in the video data and instructions to sendadvertising data relating to key data in the selected data segment tothe end user device. In another embodiment of the system, the computerprogram further includes but is not limited to instructions to form akey data community of end user devices based on the data exchangedbetween end user devices wherein each end user device in the key datacommunity of end user devices has exchanged data related to the key datawith at least one other end user device in the key data community of endusers; and instructions to send the advertising data relating to the keydata to the key data community of end user devices.

In another embodiment of the system, the computer program furtherincludes but is not limited to instructions to form a discussioncommunity of end users devices based on the data exchanged between enduser devices wherein the key data discussion community of end usersincludes the end user device and wherein each end user device in thediscussion community of end user devices has exchanged data related tothe key data with the end user device and instructions to send theadvertising data relating to the key data to the end user devices in thediscussion community of end user devices. In another embodiment of thesystem the advertising data is encoded in the video data, the computerprogram further includes but is not limited to instructions to sendfirst password data to end user devices in the key data community of endusers to decode the advertising data from the video data.

In another embodiment of the system, the advertising data is encoded inthe video data, the computer program further comprising instructions tosend second password data to end user devices in the discussioncommunity of end user device to decode the advertising data from thevideo data. In another embodiment of the system, the computer programfurther includes but is not limited to instructions to send iconactivation data to end user devices indicating advertising data for aproduct in the video data are encoded in the video data. In anotherembodiment of the system, in the computer program further includes butis not limited to instructions to monitor further comprise instructionsto perform image and audio content recognition on the video data and enduser data to identify image data and audio data related to theadvertising key data.

In another illustrative embodiment, a computer readable medium isdisclosed containing computer executable instructions useful forperforming a method for receiving advertising data at an end userdeceive, the method including but not limited to sending data from anend user device to a server indicating a product selected in a datasegment from video data received at the end user device; receiving atthe end user device video data encoded with advertising data related tothe product selected in the data segment; receiving password data at theend user device for decoding the advertising data encoded in the videodata; and decoding at the end user device, the advertising data encodedin the video data for display at the end user device.

Turning now to FIG. 1, the IPTV system 100 delivers video data includingbut not limited to video data content and advertising data to subscriberhouseholds 113 and associated end user devices (also referred to hereinas subscriber devices) which may be inside or outside of the household.The video data further includes but is not limited to advertising datakeys which are embedded in the video and advertising data. Theadvertising data keys include but are not limited to text, audio,imagery and video data added to the video data and advertising data forthe video. The advertising data keys are generated from an auralrecognition and pattern recognition analysis of the video data andadvertising data. Advertisers select particular advertising data keyscategories for detection of advertising opportunities in the video data.When a particular advertising data key category is detected in a videodata stream, an advertising data key is placed in the video data or anassociated data stream. The advertising data keys are stored in datastructure 400, which is embedded in a computer readable medium ormemory, discussed below in connection with FIG. 4.

Television advertising data and advertising data keys are detected inthe video data stream by content recognition computer programs andhardware in block 128 which monitors video and audio data. Data keys areextracted from advertising data in the advertising data server 138. Thesensed data keys are stored in a system key data pool 416 (discussedbelow in connection to the data structure of FIG. 4) by the advertisingdata server 138. Advertising data for the products in the video datastream are encoded by software and hardware in block 129 and encodedinto the video data stream by advertising data encoding software andhardware 121. In the IPTV system, IPTV channels are first broadcast asvideo data in an internet protocol (IP) from a server at a super huboffice (SHO) 101 to a regional or local IPTV video hub office (VHO)server 103, to an intermediate office (IO) server 107 and to a centraloffice (CO) 103. The IPTV system 100 includes a hierarchically arrangednetwork of servers wherein a particular embodiment the SHO transmitsvideo and advertising data to a video hub office (VHO) 103 and the VHOtransmits to an end server location close to a subscriber, such as a COserver 103 or IO 107.

In another particular embodiment, each of the SHO, VHO, CO and IO areinterconnected with an IPTV transport 139. The IPTV transport 139 mayconsist of high speed fiber optic cables interconnected with routers fortransmission of internet protocol data. The IPTV servers also providedata communication for Internet and VoIP services to subscribers.

Actively viewed IPTV channels are sent in an Internet protocol (IP) datamulticast group to access nodes such as digital subscriber line accessmultiplexer (DSLAM) 109. A multicast for a particular IPTV channel isjoined by the set-top boxes (STBs) at IPTV subscriber homes from theDSLAM. Each SHO, VHO, CO, IO and STB includes a server 115, processor123, a memory 127, network interface 188 and a database 125. Analysis ofthe video data for advertising data key insertion is performed byprocessor 123 at the VHO. The network interface functions to send andreceive data over the IPTV transport. The CO server delivers IPTV,Internet and VoIP content to the subscriber via the IO and DSLAM. Thetelevision content is delivered via multicast and television advertisingdata via unicast or multicast depending on a target televisionadvertising group of end user client subscriber devices to which theadvertising data is directed.

In another particular embodiment, subscriber devices, also referred toherein as end user devices, are different stationary and mobile devices,including but not limited to, wire line phones 135, portable phones 133,lap top computers 118, personal computers (PC) 110 and STBs 102, 119communicate with the communication system, i.e., IPTV system throughresidential gateway (RG) 164 and high speed communication lines such asIPTV transport 139. In another particular embodiment, DPI devices 166inspect data VoIP, Internet data and IPTV video, commands and Meta data(multicast and unicast) between the end user devices (subscriberdevices) which are routed through the IPTV server and between the enduser devices and the IPTV system severs. DPI devices are used inanalysis of the video data for detection of the advertising data keysbased on advertising data categories stored in the data base 125. In aparticular embodiment advertising data key forwarding and discussion ofadvertising data and user-to-user connectivity are detected by the DPIdevices that monitor data sent between end user devices. End user sourceand destination identifier data included in data sent between end userdevices are used to track user-to-user connectivity. Image, text andsound recognition functions are used to detect advertising datadiscussion and forwarding in addition to the DPI devices. Textual andaural key words and imagery found in the advertising data and messagessent and received by end user devices are inspected by the DPI devices166 and image recognition functions in the processors 123 in thecommunication system servers and end user devices are used as indicatorsof data keys and data related to advertising data in an advertising datapool found in messages sent between users from discussions and dataforwarding of the data keys and other data relating to the advertisingdata between users, also referred to herein as end user devices. Aparticular embodiment tracks discussions between end users to determinewhich end user devices are consummating with each other, how often andthe presence of key data in their discussions. The end users identityremains anonymous.

In another illustrative embodiment data exchanges related to the productadvertising data are monitored and collected whether or not thesubscriber's devices are in the household 113 or mobile outside of thehousehold such as cellular phones 134. When outside of the household,subscriber mobile device data is monitored by communication network(e.g. IPTV) servers and DPI devices which associate the product andadvertising data exchanges with particular subscribers. In anotherparticular embodiment, impression quality factors data includingsubscriber activity data such as communication transactions areinspected by DPI devices located in a communication system, e.g., IPTVsystem servers. These communication system servers route the impressionquality factors data to a VHO or CO in which the impression qualityfactors data for a subscriber are stored for processing.

In another particular embodiment, the end user devices or subscriberdevices include but are not limited to a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC) 110, a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB) 102, aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone 134, a mobiledevice 134, a palmtop computer 134, a laptop computer 110, a desktopcomputer, a communications device, a wireless telephone, a land-linetelephone, a control system, a camera, a scanner, a facsimile machine, aprinter, a pager, a personal trusted device, a web appliance, a networkrouter, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine. In another particular embodiment, a deep packetinspection (DPI) device 124 inspects multicast and unicast data,including but not limited to VoIP data, Internet data and IPTV video,commands and Meta data between the subscriber devices and betweensubscriber devices and the IPTV system severs.

In another illustrative embodiment data exchanges between end users aremonitored and collected whether or not the subscriber devices are in thehousehold 113 or the devices are mobile devices 134 outside of thehousehold. When outside of the household, subscriber mobile device datais monitored by communication system (e.g., IPTV) servers whichassociate the data exchanges with each particular subscriber's device.In another particular embodiment, impression quality factors dataincluding subscriber activity data such as communication transactionsare inspected by DPI devices located in a communication system, e.g.,IPTV system servers. End users whom discuss or exchange data with otherend users the most are classified as highly connected users (HCUs) basedon the member end user discussions of advertising data keys, between theHCU and with other end users.

As shown in FIG. 1 advertising sub groups 112 (comprising a group ofsubscriber house holds 113) receive multicast advertising data andadvertising data keys in video data stream from IO server 107 via CO 103and DSLAM 109 at STB 102. In another particular embodiment, each STB isconfigured to perform DVR functionality using memory, processor and database on board the STB. Individual households 113 receive advertisingdata at set top box 102 or one of the other subscriber devices. Morethan one STB (see STB1 102 and STB2 119) can be located in an individualhousehold 113 and each individual STB can receive a separate multicastor unicast advertising stream on IPTV transport 139 through DSLAM 109.In another particular illustrative embodiment separate and uniqueadvertising data are displayed at each set top box (STB) 102, 119tailored to target the particular subscriber watching television at thatparticular STB. Each STB 102,119 has an associated remote control (RC)116 and video display 117. The subscriber via the RC selects channelsfor a video data viewing selection (video programs, games, movies, videoon demand), initiates trick play commands data to the STB/DVR and placesorders for products and services over the IPTV system 100. Advertisingdata keys are generated and inserted at the VHO and used to selectadvertising data that is then sent to end user devices. In anotherembodiment, advertising data keys are generated at the end user devicesby processors at the end user devices. Advertising data at the end userdevices can then be selected for display by the end user devices basedon processing of the advertising data keys described herein.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative communication system, including but notlimited to a television advertising insertion system wherein televisionadvertising data can be encoded and inserted at an IPTV (SHO, VHO, CO)server or at the end user client subscriber device, for example, an STB,mobile phone, web browser or personal computer. Advertising data can beencoded and inserted into an IPTV video stream via advertising insertiondevice 129 at the IPTV VHO server 105 or at one of the STBs 102, 109.The IPTV servers include an advertising server 138 and an advertisingdatabase 125. The advertising data is selected by advertising monitoringelement 129 from the advertising database 125 based on subscriberprofile also referred to as end user data 130 and delivered by the VHOadvertising server 138 to the IPTV VHO server 115. End users exchange ofadvertising key data is monitored and stored in exchange memory 131. AnSHO 101 distributes video, advertising and subscriber profile data to aregional VHO 103 which distributes data to local COs 105 whichdistribute data via IO 107 to a digital subscriber access lineaggregator multiplexer (DSLAM) access node to subscriber devices such asSTBs 102, 119, PC 110 wire line phone 135, mobile phone 133 etc.Advertising data are also selected based on the community profile forusers in the community and sent to a mobile phone or computer associatedwith the subscriber or end user devices in the community. The communitysubscriber profile is built based on a community of subscriber's IPTV,Internet and VoIP activity. Subscriber activity data 137 are stored andrepresent advertising key data exchanged between end users during dataexchanged via email, instant messages and phone etc. for each end userdevice and advertising key data exchanged between end user devices andthe IPTV system in data exchanges during purchases, television programselection and web page surfing.

Turning now to FIG. 2, in a particular illustrative embodiment, at block202, a particular illustrative embodiment monitors the IPTV video databefore it is sent to the end user devices. The IPTV video data includesaudio data in a video data stream. An illustrative embodiment monitorthe IPTV video data in the IPTV system for image data and audio datarelating to an advertising data pool 402, discussed below, and monitorsthe video data for key data and image data extracted from theadvertising data pool. The key data includes but is not limited to audioand image data from products, such as the bicycle in the above example,that appear in the video data stream.

At block 204, an illustrative embodiment further monitors end userdevice 113 data exchanges for key data, including but not limited toaudio key data words and image key data from end user device to end userdevice discussions between end user devices 1-N 113. An illustrativeembodiment forms key data communities from the end user 1 through endusers N and forms key data discussion communities for end user devices1-N. An illustrative embodiment then proceeds to block 206 and receivesend user device data indicating selection of product data in a videodata segment from the video data stream. An illustrative embodiment thenproceeds to block 208 and reviews the end user device product selectiondata extracted from the audio and video data stream. The end user deviceproduct selection data is included in a segment of capturedkeyword/image data in context of the image and audio data content of theuser selection data.

An illustrative embodiment then proceeds to block 210 and encodesadvertising data for the product from the end user device selection ofaudio and video data into the video/audio data stream. An illustrativeembodiment sends the video data including the encoded advertising datato an end user devices in the key data community and the end userdevices in the key data discussion community. An illustrative embodimentthen proceeds to block 212 and sends activation data to activate anenhanced video icon to end user devices in the key data community andend user devices in the key data discussion community. An illustrativeembodiment then proceeds to block 214 and sends first password data toend user devices in the end user key data community to decodeadvertising data in the video data. An illustrative embodiment proceedsto block 216 and sends second password data to end user devices in theend user key data discussion community which also appear in the end userkey data community.

Turning now to FIG. 3, another particular illustrative embodimentproceeds to block 302 and detects products data in the video of datastream using content recognition software and hardware for recognitionof image and audio data related to products in the video data streamthat appear in the advertising data pool. A particular illustrativeembodiment marks and extracts product data in a video segment from thevideo data stream for products selected by an end user device and forproducts relating to the advertising data pool. A particularillustrative embodiment proceeds to block 304 and verifies the productdata identity in the video data stream with a digital fingerprint forthe product image data or product audio data for the video data of theproduct selected.

A particular illustrative embodiment retrieves a system password for theproduct data from a database using the digital fingerprint. A particularillustrative embodiment proceeds to block 306 and selects advertisingdata and products based on the viewer's advertising data in video imagedata using the system password for the product data. Multiple passwordsdata are sent to multiple user end user devices and end user devicecommunities, based on the key data communities and the key datadiscussion communities to which the end user devices belong. Aparticular illustrative embodiment proceeds to block 308 and updates thedecoded advertising data encoded in the video data using the passwordand re-encodes new or updated advertising data into the video image datawith the updated product data and advertising data. A particularillustrative embodiment proceeds to block 310 and sends updatedadvertising data encoded into the video image data to end user devicesin the key data communities and end user devices in the key datadiscussion communities formed by the IPTV system.

An illustrative embodiment proceeds to block 312 and selects productimage data for enhanced advertising product offers which are present tothe end user device related to an end user selected product in the videodata stream, to present advertising data, and purchase data orinformational data based on the demographics of the end users associatedwith end user devices in the key data communities and end user devicesin the key data discussion communities. The correlation is performedbetween the system advertising key data pool key and the end user devicekeyword/image pool from discussions or data exchanges between the enduser devices. An illustrative embodiment proceeds to block 314 and sendspassword data to end user devices which the end user devices use todecode advertising and information data for the selected products forpresentation to a particular end user device in an end user key datacommunity and an end user key data discussion community.

An illustrative embodiment proceeds to block 316 and sends anadvertising data watermark to end user devices and decodes a passwordfrom the watermark for use by and in user device to display the enhancedproduct icon in the video at being user device. An illustrativeembodiment receives product selection advertising data and uses thepassword to decode the advertising data in the video images for displayat an end user device.

Turning now to FIG. 4, in an illustrative embodiment, a data structureis provided embedded in computer readable medium for containing datauseful in performing the functions performed by the system and methoddisclosed herein. As shown in FIG. 4 in an illustrative embodiment, adata structure is provided, including but not limited to a first datafield 402 for containing the advertising data pool data containing dataindicating advertising data to be sent to end user devices encoded invideo data streams upon user selection of products from the video datastream. An illustrative embodiment further includes but is not limitedto a second data structure field 404 for containing data indicatingadvertising key image data for products presented in the video datastream and presented to end users at end user devices.

An illustrative embodiment further includes but is not limited to athird field 406 in the data structure for containing data indicatingadvertising key audio data in the video data stream indicating productsselected and presented by the system to an end-user device. Anillustrative embodiment further includes but is not limited to a fourthfield 408 in the data structure for containing data indicating key datacommunities of end user devices. An illustrative embodiment, furtherincludes but is not limited to a fifth field 410 in the data structurefor containing data indicating key data discussion communities of enduser devices, which indicate end user device which discuss (exchange)key data between end users associated with end user devices in the keydata discussion community of end user devices.

An illustrative embodiment further includes but not limited to a datastructure field 412 for containing data indicating a key data communitypassword to be used by the key data community end user devices fordecoding advertising data and put it in the video data upon reception atend user device. An illustrative embodiment further includes a summitfield in the data structure for containing data indicating a key datadiscussion community password for use by end user devices in the keydata discussion community for decoding advertising data for productsselected in the video data stream. An illustrative embodiment of thedata structure further includes an eighth field 416 for containing dataindicating the system key data pool for containing key data relating tothe products and the advertising data pool at field 402. An illustrativeembodiment of the data structure further includes a ninth field 418 forcontaining data indicating end user key data pool for containing dataindicating the key data for products selected by the being user devices.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system 500 within which a set of instructions, when executed,may cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. In some embodiments, the machine operates as astandalone device. In some embodiments, the machine may be connected(e.g., using a network) to other machines. In a networked deployment,the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client usermachine in server-client user network environment, or as a peer machinein a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a mobile device, apalmtop computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, acommunications device, a wireless telephone, a land-line telephone, acontrol system, a camera, a scanner, a facsimile machine, a printer, apager, a personal trusted device, a web appliance, a network router,switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine.

It will be understood that a device of the present invention includesbroadly any electronic device that provides voice, video or datacommunication. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term“machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines thatindividually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructionsto perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 500 may include a processor 502 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), amain memory 504 and a static memory 506, which communicate with eachother via a bus 508. The computer system 500 may further include a videodisplay unit 510 (e.g., liquid crystals display (LCD), a flat panel, asolid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system500 may include an input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 514 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 516, a signal generationdevice 518 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interface.

The disk drive unit 516 may include a machine-readable medium 522 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 524)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein, including those methods illustrated in herein above. Theinstructions 524 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 504, the static memory 506, and/or within theprocessor 502 during execution thereof by the computer system 500. Themain memory 504 and the processor 502 also may constitutemachine-readable media. Dedicated hardware implementations including,but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits,programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise beconstructed to implement the methods described herein. Applications thatmay include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments broadlyinclude a variety of electronic and computer systems. Some embodimentsimplement functions in two or more specific interconnected hardwaremodules or devices with related control and data signals communicatedbetween and through the modules, or as portions of anapplication-specific integrated circuit. Thus, the example system isapplicable to software, firmware, and hardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present invention contemplates a machine readable medium containinginstructions 524, or that which receives and executes instructions 524from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a networkenvironment 526 can send or receive voice, video or data, and tocommunicate over the network 526 using the instructions 524. Theinstructions 524 may further be transmitted or received over a network526 via the network interface device 520. The machine readable mediummay also contain a data structure for containing data useful inproviding a functional relationship between the data and a machine orcomputer in an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system andmethod.

While the machine-readable medium 522 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to:solid-state memories such as a memory card or other package that housesone or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories,or other re-writable (volatile) memories; magneto-optical or opticalmedium such as a disk or tape; and carrier wave signals such as a signalembodying computer instructions in a transmission medium; and/or adigital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained informationarchive or set of archives is considered a distribution mediumequivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the invention isconsidered to include any one or more of a machine-readable medium or adistribution medium, as listed herein and including art-recognizedequivalents and successor media, in which the software implementationsherein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the invention is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, and HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodicallysuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived there from, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory tangible computer readablemedium containing a computer program for sending advertising data to anend user device, the computer program comprising: instructions tomonitor at an advertising server, video data selected from a video datastream by each of a plurality of end user devices; instructions todetect at the advertising server the video data selected by each one ofthe plurality of end user devices data indicating a particularadvertising key category, using at least one of aural recognition andpattern recognition; instructions to insert into the video data streamat the advertising server, advertising data key data based on theadvertising key category; instructions to form a first group of end userdevices that have selected video data including the advertising data keydata; instructions to send from the advertising server first passworddata to the first group of end user devices to enable the first group ofend user devices to decode first advertising data inserted into thevideo data; instructions to send from the advertising server firstpassword data to a first group of end user devices that have exchanged afirst advertising key data in a first advertising category; andinstructions to send from the advertising server first advertising dataencoded using the first password to the first group of end user devices.2. The medium of claim 1, the computer program further comprisinginstructions to form a second group of end user devices that haveexchanged second advertising key data in a second advertising categorywith one of the end user devices in the first group of end user devices.3. The medium of claim 2, the computer program further comprising:instructions to send second advertising data relating to the secondadvertising key data encoded using the second password to end userdevices that are in both the first group and the second group of enduser devices.
 4. The medium of claim 3, wherein the second encodedadvertising data is encoded in video data, the computer program furthercomprising instructions to send second password data to the second groupof end user devices to decode the second encoded advertising data. 5.The medium of claim 1, the computer program further comprisinginstructions to send icon activation data to end user devices in thefirst group of end user devices indicating presence of advertising datafor a product encoded in the video data.
 6. The medium of claim 1,wherein the instructions to monitor further comprise instructions toperform content recognition on the video data and end user data toidentify image data and audio data related to the advertising key data.7. A method for sending advertising data to an end user device, themethod comprising: monitoring at an advertising server processor, videodata selected from a video data stream by each of a plurality of enduser devices; detecting at the advertising server processor, the videodata selected by each one of the plurality of end user devices dataindicating a particular advertising key category, using a patternrecognition software on the advertising server processor; inserting intothe video data stream at the advertising server processor, advertisingdata key data based on the advertising key category; instructions toform a first group of end user devices that have selected video dataincluding the advertising key data; sending from the advertising serverfirst password data to the first group of end user devices to enable thefirst group of end user devices to decode first advertising datainserted into the video data; sending first password data to a firstgroup of end user devices that have exchanged a first advertising keydata in a first advertising category; and sending from the firstadvertising data encoded using the first password to the first group ofend user devices.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising formingat the advertising server, a second group of end user devices that haveexchanged second advertising key data in a second advertising categorywith one of the end user devices in the first group of end user devices.9. The method of claim 8, further comprising sending second advertisingdata relating to the second advertising key data encoded using thesecond password to end user devices that are in both the first group andthe second group of end user devices wherein the second advertisingdata.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second encoded advertisingdata is encoded in the video data, the computer program furthercomprising instructions to send second password data to the second groupof end user devices to decode the second encoded advertising data. 11.The method of claim 8, further comprising sending icon activation datato end user devices in the first group of end user devices indicatingadvertising data for a product encoded in the video data.
 12. The methodof claim 8, further comprising instructions to perform contentrecognition on the video data and end user data to identify image dataand audio data related to the advertising key data.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising: sending icon activation data to end userdevices in the first group of end user devices indicating presence ofadvertising data for a product encoded in the video data.